At a time when major challenges facing populations today do not respect national boundaries, there is an ever greater need for decision-makers at all levels of government to work together not only within their own jurisdictions, but also with their counterparts in neighbouring countries. It is also a time, as we move to the post-2020 period, to learn the lessons of how the Partnership Principle has been applied in border regions, including the extent to which it has encompassed businesses and citizens for a genuine bottom-up approach to cross-border cooperation.

This is why the Centre for Cross Border Studies is bringing together representatives from the local authority-led cross-border networks on the island of Ireland, as well as experts on cross-border cooperation from elsewhere in Europe, to share their experiences of cross-border multi-level partnerships, and to identify what is needed to achieve more successful cross-border cooperation in future. This will be an invaluable opportunity for policy-makers, political representatives, academic experts, cross-border practitioners and citizens to make an active contribution to the strengthening of the Partnership Principle and ensuring economic, social and territorial cohesion even as the EU and its citizens face a changing context.

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